2004-10-31 04:00:00 PDT Pasadena -- Days like this were supposed to be in the past for Stanford. The 2004 Cardinal had been consistently competitive, obviously improved and justifiably frustrated on the occasions when they fell just short.

But this kind of loss -- a 21-0 defeat against UCLA at the Rose Bowl on Saturday afternoon -- lacked both execution and inspiration, and was far too reminiscent of this program's painful past, a trip down memory lane nobody wanted to take.

Whether it was just a tough day or the start of another season-ending slide, one that could have serious consequences for coach Buddy Teevens, remains to be seen.

"Last year is over and done with," senior tight end Alex Smith said. "There are two ways we can go. We can let this destroy us or we can go back to work on getting our fifth win. And it doesn't get any easier from here."

Saturday's lackluster effort couldn't have come at a worse time. In dropping to 4-4 and 2-2 in the Pac-10, the Cardinal have once again driven themselves into the realm of the desperate. They must win two of their final three games for a postseason invitation. And those three games include next week's road date at Arizona State, followed by the home finale against Oregon State and the Big Game at Cal.

All three opponents are better defensively on paper than the UCLA team that just shut out Stanford, the Bruins' first conference shutout since 1987.

"UCLA played like a great defensive team today," Teevens said. "Are we surprised to get shut out? Yes. We are better than that offensively. We didn't make any big plays today."

Which wasn't supposed to happen against a UCLA defense that came in allowing an average of 451 yards a game and had given up 93 points to its previous two opponents.

But those numbers did not serve Stanford at all. The Cardinal failed in nearly every meaningful phase of their offensive game plan, looking rattled and repetitive. UCLA put five players in the defensive backfield for much of the game, throttling Stanford's passing game and daring the Cardinal to run.

They couldn't. Stanford finished with 83 rushing yards in 33 attempts, an average of 2.5 yards per carry that hardly dissuaded the Bruins from their strategy.

And with few open receivers, quarterback Trent Edwards had little room for error. Edwards, who spent the week healing from injuries that knocked him out of the Oregon game the week before, had another rough day. He completed 24- of-46 attempts for 224 yards. He threw three interceptions -- all well within UCLA territory -- in a game for the first time in his career, and was forced to scramble 11 times for a net total of 28 yards.

The only reliable part about the Stanford offense was Smith, who bested the previous week's career highs with 10 receptions for 136 yards.

In the end, Stanford had more passing yards, more offensive plays and more time of possession than UCLA, but no points.

"It was frustrating, because we couldn't get anything going," Edwards said. "We couldn't establish the run and we'd end up with second- and third- and-long and that's a defensive back's dream. It was tough to find throwing lanes out there."

The Stanford defense once again did its job, holding UCLA to two offensive touchdowns. UCLA running back Maurice Drew, the conference's second- leading rusher coming into the game, scored the other on a 68-yard punt return in the second quarter.

"We are a team that's got to play well in all facets of the game," Teevens said. "When two of the three are not productive, the end result isn't going to be pretty, and it wasn't."

The Cardinal went into the half down 14-0, their largest deficit this season.

UCLA turned Edwards' first interception, a pass intended for Smith that ended up in the hands of strong safety Jarrad Page, into its first score of the game. The Bruins capitalized by assembling a six-play, 85-yard drive -- one that included a 40-yard completion from quarterback Drew Olson to Tab Perry -- into a touchdown with 3:01 to go in the first quarter.

Drew provided the Bruins with their second score, running back a Jay Ottovegio punt for the touchdown with 12:43 left in the second quarter.

UCLA dealt Stanford a knockout blow early in the fourth quarter when Drew caught a 3-yard pass from Olson in the right corner of the end zone. The touchdown capped a six-play, 60-yard drive.